Brand hierarchy: GE and Hotpoint
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bugsyjones
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I've wondered that too.
The same with Kenmore and Lady Kenmore. I keep thinking towards Lady Kenmore as higher end.
One comparison that comes to mind is that of Kelvinator and Leonard. I know for a fact that the Kelvinator branded Foodarama refrigerator (1955-1956) is identical to the Leonard branded Foodarama. The only difference being the name badge. Some Leonard examples even used the Kelvinator 'knights helmet' logo. The Leonard was priced lower than the Kelvinator equivalent, yet the cheaper branded item is extremely rare and hard to find. Not that the Foodarama isn't hard to find anyway! But good luck finding a Leonard! I would think that the more 'affordable' brand would be more common, but that's not always the case.
~Tim
The same with Kenmore and Lady Kenmore. I keep thinking towards Lady Kenmore as higher end.
One comparison that comes to mind is that of Kelvinator and Leonard. I know for a fact that the Kelvinator branded Foodarama refrigerator (1955-1956) is identical to the Leonard branded Foodarama. The only difference being the name badge. Some Leonard examples even used the Kelvinator 'knights helmet' logo. The Leonard was priced lower than the Kelvinator equivalent, yet the cheaper branded item is extremely rare and hard to find. Not that the Foodarama isn't hard to find anyway! But good luck finding a Leonard! I would think that the more 'affordable' brand would be more common, but that's not always the case.
~Tim
Lady Kenmore was the TOL Kenmore line from 1957 until the K
As for Leonard and Kelvinator...I think brand loyalty was more of a territorial thing ecspecially if you lived near a factory for a certatain brand. For example North Canton Ohio is a Hoover town and a lot of the locals worked at the Hoover Factory and it is a great place to find vintage Hoover stuff. Dayton Ohio is a great place to find vintage Frigidaire so I have been told. If you live in Louisville Kentucky you are only a hop skip and a jump from GE's Appliance Park outside of Buechel so can you guess what the dominant brand there would be....PAT COFFEY
As for Leonard and Kelvinator...I think brand loyalty was more of a territorial thing ecspecially if you lived near a factory for a certatain brand. For example North Canton Ohio is a Hoover town and a lot of the locals worked at the Hoover Factory and it is a great place to find vintage Hoover stuff. Dayton Ohio is a great place to find vintage Frigidaire so I have been told. If you live in Louisville Kentucky you are only a hop skip and a jump from GE's Appliance Park outside of Buechel so can you guess what the dominant brand there would be....PAT COFFEY
norgeway
Well-known member
In Lenoir NC...
We had both a Kelvinator and a Leonard dealer, As for Hotpoint and GE, to me, Hotpoint was fancier looking , At home, Duke Power Co sold Hotpoint, so if you bought something , you could have the payment added to your power bill.
We had both a Kelvinator and a Leonard dealer, As for Hotpoint and GE, to me, Hotpoint was fancier looking , At home, Duke Power Co sold Hotpoint, so if you bought something , you could have the payment added to your power bill.
GE or Hotpoint
That would depend on how far back you mean by "back when". When "Ozzie & Harriet" were on TV and sponsered by Hotpoint, it was a top of the line product - equal in quality to GE, usually with more features. However, by the late 60's it had began it's downhill slide. For some reason, GE wanted to reposition Hotpoint as a "value brand", and it became a big seller to apartment complexes and high volume builders. Not too long after this, GE closed Hotpoint's Chicago factory, and moved production to Appliance Park in Louisville, KY. At this time, the products became just stripped down versions of GE models. Many Hotpoint dealers were very displeased by the brand becoming "cheap", and were switched over to being GE dealers. I rarely see the brand for sale anymore; guess most of their product ends up in apartments and lower priced houses.
That would depend on how far back you mean by "back when". When "Ozzie & Harriet" were on TV and sponsered by Hotpoint, it was a top of the line product - equal in quality to GE, usually with more features. However, by the late 60's it had began it's downhill slide. For some reason, GE wanted to reposition Hotpoint as a "value brand", and it became a big seller to apartment complexes and high volume builders. Not too long after this, GE closed Hotpoint's Chicago factory, and moved production to Appliance Park in Louisville, KY. At this time, the products became just stripped down versions of GE models. Many Hotpoint dealers were very displeased by the brand becoming "cheap", and were switched over to being GE dealers. I rarely see the brand for sale anymore; guess most of their product ends up in apartments and lower priced houses.
passatdoc
Well-known member
agree with CircleW
By the 1970s, Hotpoint was the "budget" line.
My parents moved to a brand new home in 1972 from an older house. Appliances other than refrigerator were built-in and were included in the sale price. Oven was an upper-lower two oven electric range (the Hotpoint equivalent of the GE Americana) and dishwasher was Hotpoint. DW died after only three years and was definitely a low-end builder special. It was replaced by a TOL GE which lasted almost thirty years. The oven range is still original and still works, but somewhere along the way the glass window in the lower oven door developed a crack so they are wary of using it. Also, while lower oven is self-clean, the heat shield no longer raises manually, so they have to manually clean the oven. The upper oven is all they really need and has a big glass door and is at eye level for them. Coils on the cooktop are original. Fans and lights and clock and timer all still work.
Although the upper-lower oven design has a "dated" appearance, it was a creative solution which provided two ovens in a 30 inch space, plus a vented exhaust fan system for the cooktop. Microwaves were still very expensive in 1972 and combination microwave (upper) and oven (lower) units did not yet exist. On holidays like Thanksgiving with lots of people over for dinner, both ovens were running all day.
By the 1970s, Hotpoint was the "budget" line.
My parents moved to a brand new home in 1972 from an older house. Appliances other than refrigerator were built-in and were included in the sale price. Oven was an upper-lower two oven electric range (the Hotpoint equivalent of the GE Americana) and dishwasher was Hotpoint. DW died after only three years and was definitely a low-end builder special. It was replaced by a TOL GE which lasted almost thirty years. The oven range is still original and still works, but somewhere along the way the glass window in the lower oven door developed a crack so they are wary of using it. Also, while lower oven is self-clean, the heat shield no longer raises manually, so they have to manually clean the oven. The upper oven is all they really need and has a big glass door and is at eye level for them. Coils on the cooktop are original. Fans and lights and clock and timer all still work.
Although the upper-lower oven design has a "dated" appearance, it was a creative solution which provided two ovens in a 30 inch space, plus a vented exhaust fan system for the cooktop. Microwaves were still very expensive in 1972 and combination microwave (upper) and oven (lower) units did not yet exist. On holidays like Thanksgiving with lots of people over for dinner, both ovens were running all day.
laundromat
Well-known member
The way I heard it was-----
Back in the 20th century around the 20's, Hotpoint was a division of Edison Electric.They were well known mostly for electric appliances like irons,coffepots and toasters.GE was working on inventing an electric range but Hotpoint patented it first. So, GE,being the giant in electrical products just ahead of Westinghouse,boght Hotpoint so they'd be able to have the market and made Hotpoint "a quality product of General electric". yes,the Hotpoint line had their haydays from the 30's through the late 60's but,by the 70's,their design,performance and quality went out the door and pretty much ruined their reputation for any quality.The only market that soared for them were the homebuilders,property management,and construction companies that would buy their appliances in lots for different homes like apartment complexes and large neighborhoods consisting of many individual houses.Harvest gold was the most popular color chosen by these builders and coppertone was the second most popular.
Back in the 20th century around the 20's, Hotpoint was a division of Edison Electric.They were well known mostly for electric appliances like irons,coffepots and toasters.GE was working on inventing an electric range but Hotpoint patented it first. So, GE,being the giant in electrical products just ahead of Westinghouse,boght Hotpoint so they'd be able to have the market and made Hotpoint "a quality product of General electric". yes,the Hotpoint line had their haydays from the 30's through the late 60's but,by the 70's,their design,performance and quality went out the door and pretty much ruined their reputation for any quality.The only market that soared for them were the homebuilders,property management,and construction companies that would buy their appliances in lots for different homes like apartment complexes and large neighborhoods consisting of many individual houses.Harvest gold was the most popular color chosen by these builders and coppertone was the second most popular.
Actually Laundromat according to my research
Edison Electric came into being when Hotpoint, Hughes Electric, and the heating device section of GE all merged together. They used the Hotpoint trademark as their main name and Edison Electric as their company name and were a subsidary of GE. If you look at early ads for their electric ranges you will note that the ranges were known as Hotpoint-Hughes Ranges. Before the formation of Edison Electric, Hotpoint was the name given to small appliances manufactured by Pacific Electric Heating company which was started by Earl Richardson. Earl coined the name Hotpoint for the second generation of his electric iron which had the heating elements converge in the tip of the iron for doing pleats and around buttons (it was Mrs.Richardson's idea). Oh and one last thing it was Hughes Electric that invented the first PRRACTICAL electric range back in 1910. PAT COFFEY
Edison Electric came into being when Hotpoint, Hughes Electric, and the heating device section of GE all merged together. They used the Hotpoint trademark as their main name and Edison Electric as their company name and were a subsidary of GE. If you look at early ads for their electric ranges you will note that the ranges were known as Hotpoint-Hughes Ranges. Before the formation of Edison Electric, Hotpoint was the name given to small appliances manufactured by Pacific Electric Heating company which was started by Earl Richardson. Earl coined the name Hotpoint for the second generation of his electric iron which had the heating elements converge in the tip of the iron for doing pleats and around buttons (it was Mrs.Richardson's idea). Oh and one last thing it was Hughes Electric that invented the first PRRACTICAL electric range back in 1910. PAT COFFEY
norgeway
Well-known member
Hughes Hotpoint!
Our local Hotpoint dealer has 2 Hughes Hotpoint ranges from the teens,very unusual looking.
Our local Hotpoint dealer has 2 Hughes Hotpoint ranges from the teens,very unusual looking.
A little known fact is that at one time Hotpoint also made commercial cooking equipment such as griddles, deep fryers and restaurant ranges. The drive-in a couple blocks from my house used to (and still may) have Hotpoint equipment.
Thanks for the info
I have a 56 GE Liberator range, but have always wanted a deep well cooker, preferably with a second oven as well. A Hotpoint on Craigslist tempted me because it had both, but it just doesn't have that "look" that my Liberator has. I have been "off line" for a few days, but the ad is still out on CL and I posted the link here if anyone's interested in it. Sure looks to be in nice shape.
I have a 56 GE Liberator range, but have always wanted a deep well cooker, preferably with a second oven as well. A Hotpoint on Craigslist tempted me because it had both, but it just doesn't have that "look" that my Liberator has. I have been "off line" for a few days, but the ad is still out on CL and I posted the link here if anyone's interested in it. Sure looks to be in nice shape.
5600 West Taylor
The front door of Hotpoint's 5600 W Taylor Street building had "Edison Electric" engraved in stone over the front door. I have a picture of it somewhere shortly before they knocked the building down.
Hotpoint did make commercial equipment. I accidentally ended up with literature on the subject. They referenced a facility in Chicago Heights, Illinois - a location I never knew about.
Indeed my father once remarked that Hotpoint was a great place to work... through the 1960s. I recall him grousing in the 1970s about the newly-adoped "JUST IN TIME" method of production that sucked the fun out of working and allegedly put everyone on the edge.
I never heard him discuss brand heirarchy. Good question.
The front door of Hotpoint's 5600 W Taylor Street building had "Edison Electric" engraved in stone over the front door. I have a picture of it somewhere shortly before they knocked the building down.
Hotpoint did make commercial equipment. I accidentally ended up with literature on the subject. They referenced a facility in Chicago Heights, Illinois - a location I never knew about.
Indeed my father once remarked that Hotpoint was a great place to work... through the 1960s. I recall him grousing in the 1970s about the newly-adoped "JUST IN TIME" method of production that sucked the fun out of working and allegedly put everyone on the edge.
I never heard him discuss brand heirarchy. Good question.
